Autumn, Tiny Twigs, and the Day of the Dead

By Heather and Kerry Alice of Twigs and Heather.
www.twigsandheather.com
www.twigsandheather.etsy.com

It is kind of hard to say which season we like best. Spring brings new blooms and buds. Winter is great twig pickin' because the trees are bare. Summer is well...summer! But there is something about the Autumn that Kerry and I adore. The trees are such an inspiration to us and our work. Seeing them change and get more colorful every day is such a joy. The weather is perfect for doing outdoor shows, going to fairs and apple pickin'. Plus, Halloween and All Souls Day also known as The Day of the Dead falls into this season.

Kerry gets many of her ideas for jewelry from the images and folk art inspired by The Day of the Dead. One of it's most common symbol is the skull. We also use these images in our displays for shows. Look closely enough you can find sacred hearts, winged skeletons, and little devils displayed with our jewelry.

We have been working on a few new pieces this month. Kerry has made some beautiful beaded Mr. Roundhead and Mr. Longhead necklaces. We cast all the skulls, birds and leaves. I have been working on some tiny nature charm necklaces. Each piece of birchbark, acorn, and maple seed is cast individually and they are all one of a kind.

I hope that everyone enjoys this wonderful season as much as we do. It is hard not to with so much beauty outside to see.

Twist Fair in Northampton

By Heather and Kerry of Twigs and Heather

We just got back from the TWIST FAIR in Northampton MA. It was a two day show. Artists showed their work Friday night and all day Saturday, September 5th and 6th. It was held at the Center for the Arts right in downtown Northampton. We are very happy to say that it was a great experience.

Twist was organized by Lexie Barnes, an artists from Northampton. Over 50 artists and crafters from New England exhibited their work. There was a really interesting mix of cool crafts and fine art. Some exhibitors were showing their work for the first time and there were some seasoned veterans, including ourselves there too.

Some of our craftin' friends were there. Egg-a-go-go with her wonderful mixed media paintings, from Somerville, The Crafty Scientist from CT, Carrie Bergman from Boston with her beautiful tiny oil paintings , and Fern Animals, formerly from around our hood, Beverly MA, now Northampton residents to name a few.

The vibe at the show was great. The customers were enthusiastic and the vendors were happy to be involved is such a new exciting event. It was a really nice space too. High ceilings, big windows and lots of light. We also had the opportunity to trade some twigs for some really beautiful art.

We will definitely do this show again ( if they will have us.) Not only were the organizers friendly, but they were super helpful too. It was well publicized and we love the TWIST logo. Very Rocky Horror Picture Show, which is cool with us. They even gave us a free t-shirt and bag as we left. We just love seeing towns like Northampton embracing the arts and craft scene and doing something different with a show like this. Word will definitely get around that this was a great place for artists to sell their work. Let us be the first to sing their praises.

You can still see the vendor list at www.twistfair.com and some of our work at www.twigsandheather.com

New Pincushion Necklace from Twigs and Heather

Oh, the pleasure and the pain.
This is another piece from my pincushion series.
The first one I have made with 6 pins and it's a big one.
The heart with pins is over 1 inch wide and is 1/2 inch thick to fit all those lovely (ouch) pins.



The pincushions are one of my favorite pieces to make and they are a reflection of the craziness of life and love for me (KAC).

I'm pretty happy with the photos too. Usually I swear a lot and may even start to cry trying to take a decent shot.

This one is going to be hard to keep out of my private collection!

You can see more of our pincushion collection at www.twigsandheather.com .

Workspace Wednesday -Twigs and Heather

This is our studio. It is in our home in Nahant. It is pretty small but we have everything we need in it to cast and finish all our of jewelry. It is the third studio space that we have been in. The first was in Eliot Maine. The second was in our house in Kittery ME. Both had little windows that could only be used to vent out the bad stuff produced by being a casting studio. This workspace has a real window overlooking our wildflower garden. AHHHH fresh air. (We also have a vent too.) Kerry and I talk about decorating it more but we don't want to have anything catch on fire. Safety first! You can see what we make in this humble space at www.twigsandheather.etsy.com and also our website www.twigsandheather.com.

Summer inspirations

Kerry and I grew up in Nahant, a very small town North of Boston. It is only 15 miles from downtown Boston. We started our studio while living in JP but due to increasing rents for artists we moved to Portsmouth NH where Twigs and Heather grew to what it is today. We have always considered ourselves Boston girls so it was our ultimate goal to move back to the hood. It took two years of searching for just the right house in Nahant. We finally found it just over a year ago. It has our studio in it and we love it. We can see the amazing skyline from many points in Nahant. Even from right outside our house.

The summer is so special here. The town is surrounded by the ocean. We collect all our seaglass here and the twig pickin' is good too. We recently started a new collection of sea shell designs. We hand picked the shells , molded them and cast them in sterling silver. We now have two shells in our collection and a few more on the way. A mussel shell and a spiral sea shell can be found as necklaces on our website as well as on our Etsy page. We like to think that they are another sentimental reminder of the simple things that we all love and enjoy.

We feel so blessed to live and work here and we hope that people who like our work can feel the deep appreciation for our surroundings

Here are a few of our favorite places that inspire us to do what we do.

Twigs and Heather casts maple seeds

Ahhh spring.
One of our four favorite seasons. We get really excited when the maple seeds start appearing on the trees around Boston. We only have 1 or 2 weeks when the pickin' is good. These cast perfectly. We will be designing necklaces, and earrings from this batch.

New Members - Twigs and Heather

Hello everyone. Allow me to introduce ourselves. We are Twigs and Heather, Heather and Kerry Alice Collins. We are twin sisters, casters and silversmiths and new members of Boston Handmade. We design and cast one of a kind jewelry designs made from organic objects and hand carved wax models. We have two very different styles but they complement each other quite nicely. We usually cast waxes together and twigs together. Here are some pictures of our sprueing process, wax designs and raw castings.

Kerry has been working on new animals. We have rooster heads and whales. We also have a line of one of a kind sacred heart necklaces. We also have been working on some new flame designs. We always include some of our most popular pieces when we cast. The anchor and horseshoe are two of them.

These are just the first few steps of our process. It is dirty and labor intensive and we love it.